Kings' Tyler Toffoli has made quite a reply to critics

The knock on Tyler Toffoli was that he couldn't skate, that even though he had a goal scorer's instincts and twice recorded 100 points in the junior-level Ontario Hockey League, his NHL prospects weren't considered great.

That flaw led to Toffoli's dropping to the second round and 47th pick overall in the 2010 entry draft, no matter that the puck seemed to follow him and he found ways to get open even if he wasn't the fastest or slickest skater on the ice.

So much for the scouts and critics who focused on what they thought he lacked instead of seeing his persistence and willingness to polish his talent to a brilliant shine.

During the Kings' opening-round playoff series against San Jose, Coach Darryl Sutter said Toffoli's fine performance was "the reason why we're not not playing," a double negative that was the ultimate positive. On Saturday, cheered by a raucous crowd at Staples Center, Toffoli became a key reason the Kings are not trailing the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference finals.

Toffoli's second-period breakaway, set up by the red-hot Jeff Carter, put the Kings ahead for good in an eventual 4-3 victory that gave them a series lead of two games to one. Not bad for a guy who supposedly can't skate.

"On his goal he looked pretty quick, didn't he?" linemate Tanner Pearson said.

That he did.

"Proved 'em wrong, I guess," Toffoli said of his detractors, whose stinging words drove him to change his habits and take power skating classes, train more diligently, and eat better.

"It's been hard work. It's been a long road. ... Coming here was probably the best thing that could happen to me. I'm just rolling with it, just having a blast with it."

Toffoli has a goal in each of the first three games of the West finals and has meshed solidly with Pearson and with Carter, who's in the middle after playing a lot of wing this season.

The line has been the Kings' most productive in this series: Carter has seven points in his last two games, Pearson has a goal and five points in his last four games, and Toffoli has recorded points in four straight games, with three goals and an assist in that span. That has taken the pressure off the top line of Marian Gaborik, Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, which was blanked on Saturday.

Toffoli was voted the most outstanding rookie in the American Hockey League last season for his 28-goal, 51-point effort in 58 games, and he seemed a gift in waiting this season for the goal-starved Kings. Instead, he started with Manchester (N.H.) of the AHL. He said he didn't have "the best camp," but the Kings were close to the salary cap and couldn't squeeze him under the limit. He was recalled in early November, sent back in mid-January, and was brought back in late January.

There's little chance he will see Manchester again except as a tourist, so good is his chemistry with Carter and Pearson. He singled out Carter's multi-dimensional game as an asset for the entire trio.

"He's a threat every time he has the puck. He can shoot, he can pass, and obviously he can skate," said Toffoli, who played alongside Carter for stretches last season including the Kings' five-game loss to Chicago in the West finals. "Me and Pears are just trying to read off him and we're making plays and making things happen."

That certainly was the case on his goal, which was made possible when Willie Mitchell captured a Chicago turnover in the neutral zone and got the puck to Carter.

"I turned the right way and I was pretty much full speed," Toffoli said. "I got the puck and just got it on my backhand and slid it five-hole."

His skating didn't hold him back there.

"I think his skating is very underrated," Pearson said. "I've always said that, playing against him in juniors, and he showed it tonight."

Toffoli wouldn't be here — and the Kings might not be two wins from returning to the Stanley Cup Final — if he had sulked when he was demoted at the start of the season. He went to Manchester intent on earning a trip back to the big leagues, and he has proved he belongs.

"It's been a long road," he said. "The beginning of the year seems like a long time ago now."

He's doing his best to push the end of this season deeper and deeper into June.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

Twitter: @helenenothelen

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